Apparatus for food waste treatment

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for food waste treatment which efficiently treats sewage and odor generated from food wastes. The food waste treatment apparatus includes a body ( 10 ), a hopper ( 30 ) to put the food wastes into the body ( 10 ), a crusher ( 14 ) installed in the body ( 10 ) to crush the food wastes, an agitating container ( 42 ) having an agitator ( 38 ) therein and provided at a lower portion in the body ( 10 ) to agitate the food wastes, a sewage purifying tank ( 70 ) provided under the crusher ( 14 ) in the body ( 10 ) so as to purify sewage generated from the food wastes during a crushing operation of the crusher ( 14 ), and a drain pipe ( 73 ) extending from the sewage purifying tank ( 70 ), with a magnetic material ( 74 ) mounted on an end of the drain pipe ( 73 ) to secondarily purify the sewage drained from the sewage purifying tank ( 70 ) into a sewer pipe.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates, in general, to apparatuses for food wastetreatments and, more particularly, to an apparatus for food wastetreatment which efficiently treats sewage and odor generated from foodwastes when the food wastes generated from a home or restaurant aretreated by the apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, a variety of techniques for apparatuses for food wastetreatments have been proposed, according to an increase of the interestin environmental pollution caused by the food wastes.

As an example, an apparatus for food waste treatment, in which acompressing unit compresses the food wastes to remove water from thefood wastes, has been proposed, so as to reduce odor emitted from thefood wastes and decrease weight of the food wastes. The above-mentionedconventional food waste treatment apparatus reduces the environmentalpollution by preventing the odor from being emitted from the wet foodwastes and reduces the food wastes treatment costs, because the foodwaste treatment apparatus removes the water from the food wastes.

However, the conventional food waste treatment apparatus is difficult touse at home due to a large size of the apparatus. Therefore, theconventional food waste treatment apparatus is problematic in that thefood wastes must be treated by the apparatus after the food wastes areseparately collected from the dwellings.

Recently, in an effort to overcome the problems experienced in theconventional food waste treatment apparatus having a large size, anapparatus for food waste treatment, which is designed for home use, hasbeen proposed. However, the conventional food waste treatment apparatusfor home use does not have any purifying unit which purifies sewagegenerated from the food wastes when the food wastes are agitated andcompressed in the conventional food waste treatment apparatus.Accordingly, the conventional food waste treatment apparatus for homeuse is problematic in that the sewage of the food wastes is directlydrained into a sewer pipe, thus contaminating an inside surface of thesewer pipe and causing water pollution.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind theabove problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the presentinvention is to provide an apparatus for food waste treatment which isdesigned For home use and efficiently treats food wastes generated fromthe home, thus reducing environmental pollution.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus forfood waste treatment which has a purifying unit therein to purify sewagewhich is generated from food wastes and is drained into a sewer pipe.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus forfood waste treatment which efficiently removes odor emitted from thefood wastes in the food waste treatment apparatus.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention providesan apparatus for food waste treatment, including a body, a hopperprovided at an upper portion of the body to put food wastes into thebody, and a crusher installed in the body to crush the food wastes putinto the body through the hopper. The crusher includes a main crushingcutter and a main feed screw. The food waste treatment apparatus furtherincludes an agitating container having an agitator therein and providedat a lower portion in the body to agitate the food wastes which werecrushed by and dropped from the crusher, and a sewage purifying tankprovided under the crusher in the body, so as to purify sewage generatedfrom the food wastes during a crushing operation of the crusher. Thesewage purifying tank includes an antibacterial filter provided at anupper portion in the sewage purifying tank, and a plurality ofbio-ceramic balls contained in the sewage purifying tank andphotocatalytic-coated on exterior surfaces thereof. The food wastetreatment apparatus further includes a drain pipe extending from thesewage purifying tank, with a magnetic material mounted on an end of thedrain pipe to secondarily purify the sewage drained from the sewagepurifying tank into a sewer pipe.

The food waste treatment apparatus may further include a photocatalyticfilter provided in the body to remove odor emitted from the food wasteswhen the food wastes are agitated by the agitator. The photocatalyticfilter includes a pair of carbon ball containing blocks to contain aplurality of nano-carbon balls therein and respectively provided atinlet and outlet sides of the photocatalytic filter, a plurality oftitanium dioxide blocks each having a plurality of pores, and aplurality of ultraviolet lamps arranged between the pair of carbon ballcontaining blocks such that the plurality of titanium dioxide blocks andthe plurality of ultraviolet lamps are alternately arranged between thepair of carbon ball containing blocks.

The food waste treatment apparatus may further include a catalyticoxidation filter provided at a predetermined position in the body toremove the odor emitted from the food wastes when the food wastes areagitated by the agitator. The catalytic oxidation filter includes acatalytic oxidation block and a heater to maintain a desired temperatureof the catalytic oxidation block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an internal construction of anapparatus for food waste treatment, according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top sectional view of a crusher of the food waste treatmentapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an operation of the food wastetreatment apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially broken sectional view showing an operation of anagitator in an agitating container of the food waste treatment apparatusof FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an opening motion of the agitatingcontainer of the food waste treatment apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an apparatus for food waste treatment,according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an air flow channel of the food wastetreatment apparatus of FIG. 6, in which currents of air of hightemperature flowing in the air flow channel are shown.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the samereference numerals are used throughout the different drawings todesignate the same or similar components.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an internal construction of anapparatus for food waste treatment, according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 2 is a top sectional view of a crusher 14 ofthe food waste treatment apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional viewshowing an operation of the food waste treatment apparatus of FIG. 1.FIG. 4 is a partially broken sectional view showing an operation of anagitator 38 in an agitating container 42 of the food waste treatmentapparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an openingmotion of the agitating container 42 of the food waste treatmentapparatus of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the apparatus for food waste treatment of thefirst embodiment of the present invention includes a body 10, a hopper30 which is provided at an upper portion of the body 10 to put foodwastes into the body 10, the crusher 14 which is housed in a crusherhousing 22 installed in the body 10 to crush the food wastes which wereput into the body 10 through the hopper 30, and a crushing motor 12which is installed at a predetermined position in the body 10 to rotatethe crusher 14. The food waste treatment apparatus further includes theagitating container 42 which has an agitator 38 therein and is providedat a lower portion in the body 10 to agitate the food wastes which werecrushed by and dropped from the crusher 14. The agitator 38 is rotatedby an agitating motor 36 which is installed at a predetermined positionin the body 10. The agitating container 42 further has a rod-type heater40 therein to dry the food wastes when the food wastes are agitated bythe agitator 38. The rod-type heater 40 has a role as a rotating shaftof the agitator 38.

The hopper 30 includes a push bar 34 therein at a lower portion thereofto forcibly put the food wastes into the crusher 14 in the body 10. Thepush bar 34 is rotated by a push motor 32 which is mounted on anexternal surface of the lower portion of the sidewall of the hopper 30.The push motor 32 is a reversible motor. The push motor 32 has a spring66 and a clutch 68 therein to temporarily interrupt the transmission ofa rotating force, which is transmitted from the push motor 32 to thepush bar 34, by reversibly rotating the push motor 32 in case of anemergency, such as an overload.

As shown in FIG. 2, the crusher 14 includes a main crushing cutter 16,with a main feed screw 20 integrated with the main crushing cutter 16into a single structure. A compressing silicon pad 29 and a compressingcap 28 are mounted on an external surface of the crusher housing 22around a first end of the main feed screw 20 which is projected to theoutside of the crusher housing 22, so as to finely crush the food wastespassing through a water eliminator 26 which is provided at the first endof the main feed screw 20 in the crusher housing 22. A sub-crushingcutter 18 is provided in the crusher housing 22 to engage with the maincrushing cutter 16. The sub-crushing cutter 18 is tapered at a firstside thereof and has a rotating shaft which is held at both ends thereofin guide holes 48 which are provided on both sidewalls of tile crusherhousing 22, such that the sub-crushing cutter 18 moves within apredetermined range provided by the guide holes 48.

In the meantime, the food waste treatment apparatus further includes asewage purifying tank 70 under the crusher 14 in the body 10, so as topurify sewage generated from the food wastes during a crushing operationof the crusher 14. The sewage purifying tank 70 includes anantibacterial filter 71 which is provided at an upper portion in thesewage purifying tank 70, and a plurality of bio-ceramic balls 72 whichare contained in the sewage purifying tank 70 and photocatalytic-coatedon exterior surfaces thereof The food waste treatment apparatus furtherincludes a drain pipe 73 which extends from the sewage purifying tank70. The drain pipe 73 has a magnetic material 74 at an end thereof tosecondarily purify the sewage drained from the sewage purifying tank 70into a sewer pipe. The magnetic material 74 of the drain pipe 73preferably comprises a rare-earth permanent magnet. The sewage purifyingtank 70 further includes a backflow prevention plate 75 therein tomaintain a level of the sewage in the sewage purifying tank 70 to apredetermined height, so that odor, emitted from the sewage drained intothe drain pipe 73, is prevented from flowing in a reverse direction froman inlet of the drain pipe 73. The backflow prevention plate 75 is madeof a tourmaline ceramic which radiates a large quantity of far infraredrays and anions. In the drawings, The reference numeral 76 denotes ascreen which prevents losses of the bio-ceramic balls 72, and 77 denotesa ultraviolet (UV) lamp which activates the photocatalytic-reactions ofthe bio-ceramic balls 72.

As shown in FIG. 4, the food waste treatment apparatus further includesa photocatalytic filter 80 and a catalytic oxidation filter 85 atpredetermined positions in the body, so as to remove odor emitted fromthe food wastes when the food wastes are agitated by the agitator 38 inthe agitating container 42. The photocatalytic filter 80 has a pluralityof titanium dioxide blocks 81 each having a plurality of pores, and aplurality of ultraviolet lamps 82, such as ultraviolet (UV) fluorescentlamps. The plurality of titanium dioxide blocks 81 and the plurality ofultraviolet lamps 82 are alternately arranged. The odor, emitted fromthe food wastes when the food wastes are agitated by the agitator 38, iscaptured by the photocatalytic filter 80 and is discharged to theoutside by a first discharging fan 83 which is provided at apredetermined position of the external surface of the body 10. Thecatalytic oxidation filter 85 includes a catalytic oxidation block 86and a heater 87 to maintain a temperature of the catalytic oxidationblock 86 at about 200° C. which is the temperature to efficientlyaccomplish an effect of the catalytic oxidation. The odor, emitted fromthe food wastes when the food wastes are agitated by the agitator 38, iscaptured by the catalytic oxidation block 86 and is discharged by asecond discharging fan 88 which is provided above the catalyticoxidation filter 85.

Particularly, each of the titanium dioxide blocks 81 comprisesanatase-type photocatalytic titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nano-particles, ofwhich the average particle size is 20 nm. Each of the titanium dioxideblocks 81 includes materials having specific functions, such asantibacterial, anti-fungal, and deodorant functions, etc. Thephotocatalytic filter 80 further has a pair of carbon ball containingblocks 84 which contain a plurality of nano-carbon balls therein andrespectively provided at inlet and outlet sides of the photocatalyticfilter 80, so as to efficiently remove the odor.

Next, the operation and effect of the food waste treatment apparatus ofthe first embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinbelow.

The food wastes and water are put into the hopper 30 through a sink 2which is provided above the hopper 30. At this time, in case thatlarge-sized food wastes are put into the hopper 30, the large-sized foodwastes are forcibly put into the crusher 14 by the push bar 34 which isrotated by the push motor 32, so that the large-sized food wastes areeasily put into the crusher 14. The push motor 32 rotates slowly. If auser mistakenly or carelessly puts his/her hand is put into the hopper30 during a rotating motion of the push bar 34, the push bar 34 istemporally stopped by interrupting the transmission of the rotatingforce from the push motor 32 to the push bar 34 by actions of the spring66 and the clutch 68 of the push motor 32, thus preventing safetyhazards during the operation of the apparatus.

Thereafter, the food wastes, put into the crusher 14, are crushed by thefeed screw 20 and the main cutter 16 of the crusher 14 which aresimultaneously rotated by a rotating force transmitted from the crushingmotor 12, and is transferred to a first side of the crusher 14. At thistime, the sub-crushing cutter 18, which engages with the main crushingcutter 16, is rotated in a direction opposite to the rotating directionof the main crushing cutter 16. Furthermore, the sub-crushing cutter 18moves within the predetermined range provided by the guide holes 48 ofthe crusher housing 22, according to the amount of the food wastescrushed by the crusher 14, so as to reduce loads imposed on the maincrushing cutter 16, the sub-crushing cutter 18 and the crushing motor 12when the overload is applied to the crusher 14.

The sub-crushing cutter 18 is tapered at the first side thereof, so thatthe crusher 14 reduces a pressure which is generated at a first side ofthe main feed screw 20 when the crushed food wastes are fed to the firstside of the main feed screw 20, thus smoothly transferring the foodwastes to the first side of the crusher 14.

That is, in the crusher 14, the food wastes are fed by the main feedscrew 20 and a sub-feed screw 19 into the main crushing cutter 16 andthe sub-crushing cutter 18 which engage with each other to berespectively rotated, so that the food wastes are crushed into the smallpieces.

At this time, the food wastes in the crusher 14 are transferred alongand crushed by blades of the main and sub crushing cutters 16 and 18while the blades are respectively rotated around the main and subcrushing cutters 16 and 18 and engage with each other. During theabove-mentioned crushing operation, a predetermined amount of watercontained in the food wastes is removed from the food wastes.

Sequentially, the food wastes, having crushed by the crusher 14, aretransferred along the first side of the main feed screw 20 to the watereliminator 26, and a predetermined amount of water is removed from thefood wastes by a predetermined pressure applied to the food wastes whichare continuously fed into the water eliminator 26.

Thereafter, the food wastes, having processed by the water eliminator26, are fed along spiral grooves formed on an external surface of thefirst end of the main feed screw 20 into the compressing silicon pad 29and the compressing cap 28, so that the food wastes are finely crushedby the compressing silicon pad 29 and is dropped through the compressingcap 28 into the agitating container 42 which is provided at the lowerportion of the body 10.

In the agitating container 42, the food wastes are agitated by theagitator 38 which is rotated by a rotating force transmitted from theagitating motor 36, and is rapidly dried by the rod-type heater 40 inthe agitating container 42, thus preventing the food wastes fromdecaying.

In the agitating container 42, microbial chips are added to be agitatedwith the food wastes by the agitator 38, so as to ferment the foodwastes. A sensor (not shown) is provided in the agitating container 42to monitor an amount of the food wastes contained in the agitatingcontainer 42. When the amount of the food wastes in the agitatingcontainer 42 is more than a predetermined reference level, the sensoroutputs a signal to a control panel (not shown) to alarm to the user, sothat the user collects the fermented food wastes from the agitatingcontainer 42.

As shown in FIG. 5, because the agitating container 42 is installed inthe body 10 in to move a sliding manner, the user simply collects thefood wastes from the agitating container 42. The fermented food wastes,agitated in the agitating container 42 with the microbial chips, may beused as farmyard manure or feed stuff for cattle.

In the meantime, the sewage, generated from the food wastes during thecrushing operation of the crusher 14, is guided along an inclinedsurface of a lower portion of the crusher housing 22 and flows into thesewage purifying tank 70. Thereafter, the sewage in the sewage purifyingtank 70 is primarily purified by passing through the antibacterialfilter 71 and is secondarily purified by passing through the pluralityof bio-ceramic balls 72 which are contained in the sewage purifying tank70 and are photocatalytic-coated on the exterior surfaces thereof.

The sewage, generated from the food wastes during the crushing operationof the crusher 14, contains oils, plural bacteria and various kinds ofmicrobes. The number of microbes contained in the sewage reduces whilethe sewage passes through the antibacterial filter 71. In addition,organic compounds contained in the sewage are dissolved by abactericidal action and a far-infrared radiating action of thebio-ceramic balls 72 and the backflow prevention plate 75 which is madeof the tourmaline ceramic.

The sewage in the sewage purifying tank 70 is thirdly purified by therare-earth permanent magnetic material 74 which is mounted on the end ofthe drain pipe 73, while passing through the drain pipe 73. At thistime, water of the sewage is ion-activated by a magnetic field of themagnetic material 74, so that chroma, turbidity and deodorization of thesewage are improved.

The purified sewage is thereafter drained through a sewer hole 8 intothe sewer pipe. Even though the sewage is drained into the sewer pipe,impurities are prevented from being deposited in the sewer pipe, andexisting rust and scale are removed. Furthermore, the purified sewage iskept in a magnetized state during seven to ten days, thus preventingpollution of odor and virus caused by the sewer pipe.

In the meantime, the odor, emitted from the food wastes when the foodwastes are processed in the food waste treatment apparatus, is removedby the photocatalytic filter 80 and the catalytic oxidation filter 85 inthe body 10. In the photocatalytic filter 80 which is provided at a sideposition in the body 10, the plurality of titanium dioxide blocks 81 arespaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals. The pluralityof ultraviolet lamps 82 are respectively arranged in the gaps definedbetween the plurality of titanium dioxide blocks 81. When ultravioletradiated rays from each of the ultraviolet lamps 82 are radiated on eachof the titanium dioxide blocks 81, a reducing power of a hydrogenperoxide (H₂O₂) and a oxidizing power of a hydroxyl group are generatedon a surface of each of the titanium dioxide blocks 81, so that avariety of contaminants and harmful components of the odor are dissolvedand removed. Thereafter, the odor is discharged by the first dischargingfan 83 to the outside of the body 10. In the catalytic oxidation filter85, the catalytic molecules of the catalytic oxidation block 86 areactivated by the heater 87, so that the odor in the body 10 is removedwhen the air passes through the catalytic oxidation filter 85.Thereafter, the odorless air is discharged by the second discharging fan88 to the outside of the body 10.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views of an apparatus for food waste treatment,according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the food waste treatment apparatus of thesecond embodiment of the present invention, the crusher 14 is placed inthe body 10 to be offset from a bottom part of the hopper 30, so as toeasily crush the food wastes which are put into the crusher 14 throughthe hopper 30. Two first and second agitating containers 42 a and 42 bare provided under the crusher 14 in the body 10. First and secondagitators 38 a and 38 b are rotated by the rotating force which istransmitted from the agitating motor 36 thereto via first and secondagitating gears 40′ and 40″ which are respectively provided at ends offirst and second rotating shaft 40 a and 40 b of the first and secondagitators 38 a and 38 b. Because a motor gear 36′ of the agitating motor36 is mounted between the first and second agitating gears 40′ and 40″to engage with each other, the first and second agitating gears 40′ and40″ are rotated in opposite rotating directions. At this time, anelectrical solenoid valve may be additionally provided between the motorgear 36′ and the second agitating gear 40″ to selectively rotate thesecond agitator 38 b.

A positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermister heating element 43,which is a sensor-type heater of which the quantity of heat varies inresponse to an environmental temperature, is attached on a lower surfaceof a bottom of each of the first and second agitating containers 42 aand 42 b, without using the rod-type heater 40 used as the rotatingshaft of the agitator 38, different from the food waste treatmentapparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention. Accordingly,the first and second agitating containers 42 a and 42 b dry the foodwastes therein using instantaneous heat of the PTC thermister heatingelement 43 without putting the microbial chips into the first and secondagitating containers 42 a and 42 b. Selectively, a carbon fiber heater44 may be attached on a lower surface of a bottom of the body 10, so asto maintain the agitating temperatures of the first and second agitatingcontainers 42 a and 42 b in the range of 40° C. to 60° C. when themicrobial chips are put into the first and second agitating containers42 a and 42 b.

As a condensing means to condense vapor in the air of a hightemperature, a thermoelectric module 50 using a direct current isprovided above the first and second agitating containers 42 a and 42 b,with a cooling fin 51 and a heating fin 52 coupled to a cooling side anda heating side of the thermoelectric module 50, respectively. Thecooling fin 51 has a plurality of pores for a flow of the air.Particularly, in the food waste treatment apparatus of the secondembodiment of the present invention, the thermoelectric module 50accomplishes a peltier effect, so that the thermoelectric module 50rapidly changes the operation of the apparatus between cold and hotmodes, thus efficiently dehumidifying the air.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 53 denotes a cooling block, 54denotes a radiating block, 55 denotes an air guide channel which guidesthe inside air of the body 10 into the photocatalytic filter 80 beforedischarging the air to the outside of the body 10, and 56 denotes ablower fan.

The operation of the food waste treatment apparatus according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention having the above-mentionedconstruction will be described herein below. The food wastes, havingcrushed by the crusher 14, are dropped into the first agitatingcontainer 42 a and is agitated by the first agitator 38 a while thefirst agitating gear 40′, which is provided at the end of a firstrotating shaft 40 a of the first agitator 38 a, is rotated by therotating force transmitted from the agitating motor 36 thereto via themotor gear 36′.

When the food wastes fill the first agitating container 42 a, apredetermined amount of food wastes is transferred into the secondagitating container 42 b and is secondarily agitated by the secondagitator 38 b in the second agitating container 42 b. At this time, thefood wastes are dried by the instantaneous heat of the PTC thermisterheating element 43, without putting the microbial chips into the firstand second agitating container 42 a and 42 b.

In the meantime, the air of both high temperature and humidity and theodor, which are generated from the food wastes while the food wastes areagitated and dried in the first and second agitating containers 42 a and42 b, rise in the body 10, and is condensed by passing through thecooling pin 51. Thereafter, the odor is removed from the air while theair having the odor passes through the photocatalytic filter 80, and theodorless air is discharged to the outside of the body 10.

Because the cooling fin 51 is in contact with the cooling side of thethermoelectric module 50, the cooling fin 51 constantly maintains alow-temperature state. Therefore, the cooling fin 5 easily condenses thevapor in the air of the high temperature. The heating fin 52 of thethermoelectric module 50 executes a heat radiating operation.

The food waste treatment apparatus of the present invention efficientlycrushes and dries the food wastes, and efficiently purifies the sewagegenerated from the food wastes during the crushing operation of thecrusher 14. In addition, the food waste treatment apparatus of thepresent invention efficiently removes the odor, emitted from the foodwastes while the food wastes are processed in the body 10, by thephotocatalytic effect and the catalytic oxidation effect provided in thefood waste treatment apparatus, thus preventing air pollution and waterpollution.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the present invention provides an apparatus for foodwaste treatment which efficiently reduces a volume of food wastesgenerated from home or restaurant by crushing and drying the foodwastes. In the food waste treatment apparatus of the present invention,the food wastes are agitated in an agitating container together withmicrobial chips, so that the food wastes processed by the food wastetreatment apparatus may be preferably used as farmyard manure or feedstuff for cattle.

Furthermore, the food waste treatment apparatus of the present inventionefficiently purifies sewage, generated from the food wastes during acrushing operation of a crusher and drained into a sewer pipe, byproviding an antibacterial effect and by executing an ultravioletradiating operation, thus reducing pollution of water in a sewer pipeand preventing odor and virus caused by the sewer pipe.

In addition, the food waste treatment apparatus of the present inventionefficiently removes the odor, emitted from the food wastes while thefood wastes are processed in the food waste treatment apparatus, by aphotocatalytic effect and a catalytic oxidation effect provided in thefood waste treatment apparatus, thus reducing the odor contained in theair discharged from the food waste treatment apparatus and preventingair pollution.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1. An apparatus for food waste treatment, comprising: a body; a hopperprovided at an upper portion of the body to put food wastes into thebody; a crusher installed in the body to crush the food wastes put intothe body through the hopper, the crusher comprising a main crushingcutter and a main feed screw; an agitating container having an agitatortherein and provided at a lower portion in the body to agitate the foodwastes which were crushed by and dropped from the crusher; a sewagepurifying tank provided under the crusher in the body, so as to purifysewage generated from the food wastes during a crushing operation of thecrusher, the sewage purifying tank including; an antibacterial filterprovided at an upper portion in the sewage purifying tank; and aplurality of bio-ceramic balls contained in the sewage purifying tankand photocatalytic-coated on exterior surfaces thereof; and a drain pipeextending from the sewage purifying tank, with a magnetic materialmounted on an end of the drain pipe to secondarily purify the sewagedrained from the sewage purifying tank into a sewer pipe.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a photocatalyticfilter provided in the body to remove odor emitted from the food wasteswhen the food wastes are agitated by the agitator, the photocatalyticfilter comprising: a pair of carbon ball containing blocks to contain aplurality of nanocarbon balls therein and respectively provided at inletand outlet sides of the photocatalytic filter; a plurality of titaniumdioxide blocks each having a plurality of pores; and a plurality ofultraviolet lamps arranged between the pair of carbon ball containingblocks such that the plurality of titanium dioxide blocks and theplurality of ultraviolet lamps are alternately arranged between the pairof carbon ball containing blocks.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2further comprising a catalytic oxidation filter provided at apredetermined position in the body to remove the odor emitted from thefood wastes when the food wastes are agitated by the agitator, thecatalytic oxidation filter comprising a catalytic oxidation block and aheater to maintain a desired temperature of the catalytic oxidationblock.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising: an airflow channel provided above the agitating container to guide air fromthe agitating container into the photocatalytic filter; a cooling finmounted on the air flow channel to condense vapor in the air of a hightemperature guided from the agitating container into the photocatalyticfilter through the air flow channel; and a thermoelectric module mountedon an end of the cooling fin such that a cooling side of thethermoelectric module is in contact with the end of the cooling fin. 5.The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a catalyticoxidation filter provided at a predetermined position in the body toremove the odor emitted from the food wastes when the food wastes areagitated by the agitator, the catalytic oxidation filter comprising acatalytic oxidation block and a heater to maintain a desired temperatureof the catalytic oxidation block.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the crusher which is installed in the body is housed in acrusher housing, with a sub-crushing cutter provided in the crusherhousing to engage with the main crushing cutter, the sub-crushing cutterhaving a rotating shaft which is held at both ends thereof in guideholes provided on both sidewalls of the crusher housing, such that thesub-crushing cutter moves within a predetermined range provided by theguide holes.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theagitating container further comprises a rod-type heater therein to drythe food wastes when the food wastes are agitated by the agitator, therod-type heater having a role as a rotating shaft of the agitator. 8.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hopper further comprisesa push bar therein to forcibly put the food wastes into the crusher inthe body.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein thesub-crushing cutter of the crusher is tapered at a first side thereof,with a sub-feed screw integrally provided at a second side of thesub-crushing cutter.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecrusher is placed in the body to be offset from a bottom part of thehopper, and the agitating container comprises a plurality of containers.11. An apparatus according to claim 10 further comprising a positivetemperature coefficient (PTC) thermister heating element or a carbonfiber heater provided under the agitating container to heat theagitating container.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermister heatingelement or a carbon fiber heater provided under the agitating containerto heat the agitating container.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising: an air flow channel provided above the agitatingcontainer to guide air from the agitating container into thephotocatalytic filter; a cooling fin mounted on the air flow channel tocondense vapor in the air of a high temperature guided from theagitating container into the photocatalytic filter through the air flowchannel; and a thermoelectric module mounted on an end of the coolingfin such that a cooling side of the thermoelectric module is in contactwith the end of the cooling fin.